Musicological Intersections of Race and Identity
Summary
The interplay of musicology with race and identity examines how musical practices both reflect and shape social constructs of racialised communities. This field traces the genealogy of sound—whether in performance, composition or reception—as a site where racial categories are inscribed, contested and reimagined. Scholarship has increasingly foregrounded the voices and experiences of non-white musicians, interrogating how power relations influence the creation of canons, the politics of casting and audience perception. Approaches range from archival recovery of marginalised repertoires to critical analyses of contemporary interventions that destabilise dominant narratives. Key themes include representation in classical and popular genres, the legacy of racial stereotypes in musical forms and the emergence of self-representation strategies that challenge exclusionary frameworks. Globally, this research highlights music’s capacity to negotiate identity, foster solidarity across diasporas and drive cultural transformation, with practical applications in education, curatorial practice and performance programming.
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Musicological Intersections of Race and Identity publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in musicological intersections of race and identity across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Minstrelsy: A performance tradition based on racial caricature that emerged in nineteenth-century America and influenced popular representations of Black identity.
Counter-canon: The practice of creating or recovering works that challenge established cultural canons by foregrounding marginalised voices.
Postcolonial critique: An analytical approach that examines the cultural legacies of colonialism, including how power structures shaped artistic expression and representation.
References
- Leslie Uggams, Sing Along with Mitch (1961–64), and the Reverberations of Minstrelsy. Journal of the Society for American Music (2022).
- Racial Dynamics: The Casting of Lucian Msamati as Salieri in the National Theatre’s 2016 Production of Amadeus. Open Library of Humanities (2021).
- Last Rites: Self-Representation and Counter-Canon Practices in Classical Music through Radhe Radhe. Open Library of Humanities (2022).
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